Struck a Nerve
by CrimsonAnjel
Summary: No one at Mount Vernon High deserves a second glance, they're all conformers. But on the first day of school a newcomer ruins my chance to stay the same with one huge grin and a warm gesture... Crap. M rating for language, AU, shounen aiyaoi, Taito.
1. Women's Intuition

**A/N: **Yes, another Taito. What can I say? The ideas keep flowing so my hands start flowing too. Don't worry, I'm still working on my other fics and I don't intend on forgetting about 'em. I've revised and reposted this story to gain more interest. This version is MUCH better in my opinion.

Special thanks goes to Neo-chan for her undying friendship, beautiful Beta-ing skills and credit for the title of this fic. Love you babe!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Digimon in any way shape and/or form.

**Warnings: **This fic is bound to have cursing in it. I mean come on, they _are _high schoolers. The more romantic...physical..things.. will happen in later chapters. For now, enjoy!

**Summary/Intro:** No one at Mount Vernon High deserves a second glance, they're all conformers. But on the first day of school a newcomer ruins my chance to stay the same with one huge grin and a warm gesture... M rating for language, AU, shounen ai/yaoi, Taito.

**Struck a Nerve**

**Chapter 1: Women's Intuition**

**By: CA**

I walked to school like I did the year before, wearing the same clothes as I did the year before and my attitude certainly hadn't changed since then. I still hated it/them, all of them, with the same passionate hate I had held for years. Mount Vernon high school to me was an infestation of conformers and losers all trying to be like each other so much that they just sucked themselves down in the system. Truthfully, my ideal school would be one with no one in it. Except my only friend, Sora of course. She was the only other student with a soul and definitely the only other student who understood me. I liked her and no one else, for obvious reasons.

There was only one small thing that changed over the summer. I ceased being a freshmen and was now a sophomore. Great. Three more years of the same shit. I already knew, after years of schooling, all the teachers had to tell me. But since I never rose my hand, only my test scores could prove to the teachers that I was better than the little terriers trotting around with their tongues lolling out. Unfortunately, I didn't give a fuck. It was too troublesome to put effort into answering the multiple choice run-around questions handed to me on paper. So I didn't. And they never got the memo. Oh well?

As I entered the school, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed, I noticed another something new poking at the edges of the crusted walls. Right next to my locker, where I expected the fat chick from last year to be, there was someone new. He reminded me of all the other conformer jocks dotting the hallways, for the most part at least. But this one was different. Instead of looking my way and smirking like an asshole, my first impression of him was a thousand watt smile. At first I thought the spotlight grin was directed at someone behind me, but after glancing for anyone else I realized he had to be looking at me.

I found my way up to locker #3012, as usual, without a sideways look towards the grinning newcomer. I could feel the warmth from his body and smile hitting my side, even from a few feet away. It was uncomfortable, but at least he seemed genuine so far and possibly (dare I say it?) different/better than whoever else was surrounding me.

I finally managed to pry open my ghetto locker, with a few kicks to boot. Inside I deposited my things, only needing a notebook and pen for the first day of classes. Unfortunately, as I turned away from the stare boreing into the back of my head, I dropped both items. Idiot, I know. But lo and behold, Captain of the Boy Scouts bent down and grabbed them for me, even before I noticed I dropped them. Fast reflexes if I do say so myself.

I turned to him and unknowingly glared. It was a habit by then.

"Something wrong?" I snapped out of it as soon as he spoke. His voice was really interesting to me, kind of like a mix of raspy and smooth tones. I liked it.

I retorted as soon as I found my voice. "Uh, thanks? You want a medal or something?" He seemed unfazed by the sarcasm, much like Sora was all the time. I guessed that he was either really dumb and ignorant, or smart and persistent. In any case, he didn't take offense.

"Yeah, sure. I'm dumb, right? You must be thinking I'm dumb. No kid picks up someone else's shit, right? Guess I do deserve a medal." Whoa, scratch dumb and add psychic.

He continued. "Really, I'm an asshole for helping you out because I didn't do it for nothing." Oh, an ulterior motive? "I sorta need directions? To my first class, that is. I'm obviously new, heh." Duh.

"You talk a lot. Here, gimme your schedule." I grabbed the pink slip tucked in his hand and read his first class to myself. "Oh. Shut up and follow me then. We're in the same class. After that, fuck off."

Without another word he tagged along next to me towards English Lit. I guess he took the talking too much part to heart because he didn't say anything else during the short walk.

I forgot how unusual it was for me to be walking with someone and it only dawned on me when I entered the class. It was the first day of school and already the regulars were giving me strange looks. Shit. I had to get away from this kid a.s.a.p. or parts of my reputation would be at risk.

Without a goodbye, fuck of, or anything else I rushed past him as he admired the shitty classroom and found a seat at the back. I purposefully trained my eyes on my desk then, hoping he'd forget about me or at least get the memo that I didn't want him around. It worked like a charm. He didn't disturb me or talk to me after that.

I few minutes later I looked up briefly and caught sight of him, sitting alone in a random corner of the room. Of course he was alone! It was his first day at a new school. In later periods other jocks were bound to talk to him, but everyone was still way too tired in first period to pay any attention to the newcomer. And for some reason I felt horrible, seeing his puppy face scrunched up sadly as he sat down like a whipped dog. A cute one at that. Maybe I did hurt has feelings by ignoring him? I mean, to a certain degree it was his lack of judgment that got him into this situation in the first place. What was he thinking, trying to talk to the most detached, unemotional person in the school? He didn't know anyone obviously, but I looked anything but approachable compared to everyone else.

Black clothing and chains usually write signs for themselves saying: 'Here to learn, not to socialize. Fuck off.' But in any case, I still felt a pang of guilt hitting me for leaving him alone in a room full of thirty strangers. I was his only shaky link into the social world even if I was the worst one. If nothing else, I wouldn't be surprised if he never talked to me again considering I pushed him away effectively, as was in my nature to do. Really, if he talked to me again I'd be surprised. Maybe not surprised, but definitely interested.

From then on, the day sucked. I sat through first period quietly and I felt like shit. I didn't listen to a word the teacher said and all I could think of was him. By the time first period ended, I was hoping I hadn't pushed him away totally and that he'd keep persisting. I couldn't change who I was, but I wanted to talk to him again, especially to get him off my mind so I could feel normal again. I guess that's what happens when I don't learn anything new in class. My mind fills the gap with it's own thoughts and I don't have anything to drown them out with. For those six and a half hours, I was at the mercy of my ever-moving mind and because of that, I was at the mercy of whatever he did next.

Finally after a day of cruddy classes the last bell rang, signaling the end of the first day of school. Woo hoo. All it signaled to me was that I had one more chance to talk to him again or at least to go home and drown out my thoughts with T.V. But as I found my locker, he wasn't there grinning at me like he had been in the morning. It sucked to have to think about him more, but what could I do? He wasn't there and that was it. There was always tomorrow? I would say that it didn't matter at all and that it was just a morning crush to pass the time... but something about my thoughts throughout the day made that seem unreal. This newcomer was really interesting to me, in everything he did. I found myself feeling very eager to talk to him again or even to feel his smile again. It was an entirely weird feeling and the energy in my body was quickly fading. Really, I just needed to sleep more because the crazy things my brain fabricated when I didn't were enough to agitate me forever. He was going to the agitate me forever if I didn't talk to him. I liked him at least a little bit, that was for sure. And for any gay kid at a hick/jock straight republican high school... that was bad news. Nice to think about, but overall bad news.

I just had to not overreact. Right. Add that to my list of things to do, along with flying to the Moon and inventing a new language. It was just... fuck. Not good.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Bring Bring._

Phones... Need I say more?

I lifted my head from the pillow in the same manner I would if it was an alarm clock... Slowly and with a disgusted sigh. Reaching around with my hand I blindly found the cordless devil and pushed the Talk button.

"...Hello...?"

"Oh come on Matt for christssakes it's only 6:00 at night!" Sora.

"Y'know... I... Nap." I fell back against my pillow, barely holding on to the piece of plastic currently blasting Sora's voice into my ear. Sighing, I finally came up with a better response. She always did that, pulling the silent phone treatment until I said more.

"What? I'm," yawn. "tired..." I heard a slight chuckle in the distance of my sleepy reality.

"Uh, whatever floats your boat Insomnio."

"Nice."

"I just wanted to tell you why I didn't come to your locker today after school. Didn't you notice I was gone at all?"

"No." Hey, I was telling the truth. My mind was so preoccupied with the newcomer that I didn't notice Sora's absence.

"You dork! Well, I skipped school is all. This cute shop in the mall had a piercing special until noon and my wallet pulled me into it. I mean, come on, FIVE DOLLARS for an eyebrow piercing! That's unheard of!" It certainly was. In fact, I didn't hear a word she said which was a habit I formed after many one-sided phone calls. Her voice was like a TV program you never pay attention to because it blends into the background.

"...Matt. Matt! YAMATO ISHIDA!" Oops, I did it again.

"Yeah... piercings, great. Listen, I'd love to hear you babble on, but I'm kinda tired. Go call one of your woman friends if you wanna talk Barbie dress-up."

"You are one of my woman friends." A gay joke. Wonderful.

"Yes Sora, my gapping vagina and full breasts gave me away. Damn." That produced some laughter. Just what someone trying to go back to sleep needed.

"Oh, I see. Your sarcasm is like 30 higher today... What happened?" What the hell?

"What the hell?"

"Oh come on little buddy! You _know _I know you. You're only tired when you've been thinking and your only extra sarcastic when you're mad at yourself." I had to hand it to her, Sora's woman's intuition levels were through the roof today.

"Ugh... You're gonna beat it out of me eventually, so I'll talk."

"Good."

"But then I get to sleep, right?"

"Deal." Ok, that was a blatant lie.

"Ok... So today was the first day of school right?" Silence. "At my locker I bumped into some new guy, god knows where he came from, and we had a little run in."

"What the hell does 'a little run in' mean? Spill!"

"I dropped my shit 'cause I'm dumb and he helped me pick it up." That wasn't gonna fly.

"Wait, so you're telling me that you're depressed because a nice guy helped you pick up some papers? Are you retarded?" Yes.

"No no no, just listen. God. He started talking to me and it was just... weird. We had a conversation that lasted more than two words long."

"So you didn't immediately tell him to fuck off?"

"I did eventually, but all he wanted were directions to his first period class, which was the same class as mine. So we walked there together—er, he forced me to and yeah... it was just weird." Maybe that was enough?

"So lemme paraphrase. Nice guy. Easy question. No attachments. What made it weird exactly? From what I can see, all he wanted were some directions and to give a helping hand." She just put into words why I felt like an asshole.

"And I was a fucking dick to him because of it."

"Dumbass."

"I know! And the worst part is... I dunno."

"The worst part is, he's cute and different from everyone else at our school?" Women's what? Intuition I tell you!

"Get out of my head." More laughter.

"Ok, I see your point now... So why didn't you tell me about this in fourth period? In fact, you didn't talk to me all period long, you ass." Two reasons why I'm an asshole in one day. What else could a guy ask for?

"Too busy thinking. Surprised?"

"Not really. Well, I'll let you get back to your lazy routine. Call me if you need to talk." Good. Time to sleep.

"Kay. Later."

"Bye love!"

_Click._

I threw the phone across the room and pulled the pillow over my head... tighter. All I needed to do was sleep forever, then I'd stop being so fickle and easy to impress. When it came down to it, that was the real reason why the newcomer got to me. He was simple and I liked things to be uncomplicated. But he wasn't simple in a bad or dumb way. He was simple in the way where he could take a really confusing situation and make sense of it, or simplify the craziest thought into something easy to digest. Strangely, I got all that just from one little meeting, if you could call it that. So what else would I discover if I continued to talk to him? Would I find out too much, like what I originally though of him was wrong and he really was an asshole? Or even worse, would I be too impressed and hate myself more for losing my chance to make a friend?

Obviously, sleep evaded me after that and my brain was too... awake to let me. It sucked trying to make my over-thinking mind calm down. It was basically like trying to topple over an elephant with a toothpick plus it was one of those love/hate relationships, except this one was with my brain. I love him a lot, but damn could the fucker work overtime.

Instead of laying around counting lines on my ceiling, I moved to the living room downstairs, hoping to maybe find some trashy television to drown out my thoughts with. But as usually, I couldn't walk two feet without an encounter with the 'silent but deadly dad'. That man could appear from around corners like a fucking shadow, never failing to scare the shit out of me. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate my dad—a lot. He just had a way of being... detached, like he had no clue how to read my moods and talk to me accordingly. So with the same cold, simple and professional voice he used with his clients he stopped me in my tracks.

"Yamato Ishida." That's my name, don't wear it out chief.

"Yes... sir." Don't ask. It was tradition in my family to treat others—elders, with undying respect and eloquence. Of course, being that my father was Japanese that type of upbringing was only natural. And no, seeing me on the street, no one would guess I'm Japanese. My mother was to blame for that, considering she had all the same white looks I do and then some even. Hell, look at me and all you'll see is a pasty white kid with all the features a Hitler Child should have, including blond hair, blue eyes and white skin. Duh.

My father walked closer to me and put a business-like hand on my shoulder. "Son, I am counting on you to look after your brother tonight. It is your responsibility to be a good role-model for him while I'm gone and I will not tolerate any horse-play from either of you. Do not fill his head with non-sense and make sure his is in bed promptly at 8:00, is that understood?"

"Yes sir." truthfully, the guy was full of shit. TK, my brother, was 13 and even if I forced him into bed he wouldn't fall asleep until well after 10:00. It reminded me of my upbringing, except I had horrible babysitters added to the equation. But there was no use talking back to Mr. Cold Pants; he was like a rock, so I kept nodding in the affirmative to all of his requests.

He smiled curtly. "Good man. I have left my contact number on the fridge, along with emergency numbers. Take messages for me and I will be back at 12:00. Goodnight son." With that he turned heel and with nothing else to add he left. Classic show, good form you old bastard! Luckily babysitting TK was no different than not babysitting him. He was great and we had an understanding that as long as he didn't fuck with me, he could do whatever he wanted and that was that. So, with nothing left to entertain me I pulled out the remote and flipped on the plasma screen to drown myself in re-runs of Pimp My Ride and shitty music videos until my brain calmed down for bed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I woke up the next morning with my headphones bending uncomfortably against my ears. I faintly remembered putting on my Atreyu album to sleep to and the damned thing was now imprinted into the side of my face.

Fucking alarms! Could the little bastard beep any louder if it tried? Now I remembered, that was the thing that just woke me up. And for no reason I ripped the red-lighted black demon from my bed-side table and tossed it against the wall... Unfortunately, it was still beeping, so all I got out of it was a nice new dent. And to add to the headache mounting in my brain the phone started having a seizure. Great. Who the fuck would call at 6:30 in the morning?

"What?"

"Good morning to you too, sunshine!" Sora.

"Well, my wall is turning into the Moon and I feel like shit. Now, whaddya want before I hang up?" She chuckled in that sing-song voice of hers.

"Weeell, I just wanted to ask what you plan to do about the new guy?" And she can't ask this question _at school _when I'm I'm fully awake? Ugh.

"Like I said last night, I haven't seen the guy since. Leave me alone now until I've had my coffee."

_Click. _

I turned off the phone then. I'm sure she was hurt deeply by the gesture. Whatever. After that, though I was wide awake and ready to not eat and get the hell out of there. I took a shower the night before so all I had to do was grab my shit and wake up my younger brat before I headed out.

I slammed into his room, with a cheery morning greeting. I get crazy in the morning and usually say random, totally peculiar things to TK when I wake him up. He's used to it by now.

"I hope you aren't having a morning wank you little brat, 'cause heeeeres Matt! Hey, that rhymed." I bolted in, only to find him laying half off the bed, still asleep and drooling. Damn, even his blaring alarm clock and my morning hello didn't wake the boy up. I swear, he could sleep through a roller coaster and be fine and then a fly would land on him and he'd bolt up, going crazy. The little weirdo. As usual I grabbed the spare stick he had laying by is bed and ticked his nose.

"Wha... Wha—WHAT!"

"Wake up, you crazy little shit. I'll make you some pop-tarts so be downstairs pronto, 'cause I'm not waking you up again." He glared—or tried to anyways, at me and fell back down on his pillow. I warned him! And he did know the consequences dad had for tardiness, so that would wake him up eventually, it always did.

School was normal again that morning and much like the day before, the newcomer didn't show up at his locker when I got there. I was pretty disappointed, but some kind of intuition told me not to worry, so I just went to first period and took my seat as usual, with a glare in place. I'd have a chance to talk to Sora in fourth period, so that was enough to keep my mood neutral.

The intuition didn't fail me, though and about ten minutes into the period the newcomer came blasting into the room, looking like the Tasmanian Devil. He definitely just woke up; it was obvious even with the cheeky grin hiding it on his features. With a tossed apology to the teacher, the boy dragged himself to a seat... in front of me. Didn't the teachers normally assign seats? Er—must be beginning of the school year forgetfulness. Either way, his tired, slouchy form was right in-fucking front of me all period long. When he first got there he waved a small hello to me and sat—rather, fell into his seat like we'd only just met. Was he not mad at me anymore? God, could the kid bounce back quickly.

Since the day before it was established in my mind that I didn't hate him, but the old feeling started creeping back in all period long. It was almost like when he liked me, I didn't like him and visa versa. Fuckin' annoying really. At the end of the period I grabbed my notebook and shrugged past him before he even noticed the bell ringing. I thought it better to ignore him and maybe whatever was developing between would die in it's early stages. I knew the futility of ignoring the kid, like it was a premonition deep in my mind that I couldn't. But I decided to go through the motions anyway and just let time pull everything along on it's own schedule. What use was it doing anything different? Like I said, I'm not one to make changes willingly and that kid represented a change so eerie in my future that I decided to forget about it... for now.

In fourth period I was barraged with the usual physical touches and greetings trademarked to Sora. She seemed extra bubbly today, obviously in light of the stupid little inconsequential situation with me and the new kid. She was a girl, so no doubt she'd make it out to be more than it was.

"So, you gonna marry him yet?" Ok, so she came on a little stronger than I thought.

"You're an idiot." Really, she was just over-active.

"Of course I am! But who cares when wittle Yama's gonna get married?"

"Yes, because I definitely gave you reason to say that..." She only slapped me on the shoulder for that.

"Yeah, well you be careful or I'll tell your children naughty things."

"I'm a guy. No womb. No kids. You fuck." Why did my sarcasm do nothing but make her laugh more? The least I could do would be to remember to just be serious.

"Ok, ok but down to business. I want to know what's going on. Did ya talk to him again today yet?" I rolled my eyes comically. I was going to have to give her something or she'd stab at me all period long.

"Truthfully? I don't know what's going on. Nothing, for all I care. It's just some new guy who talked to me once. No big deal." Buy it, please buy it!

"I'm not buyin' it." Shit.

"Ok, fine! I thought he was cute. Jesus. But whatever! We aren't friends and I don't even know his name yet."

"Kay, I get it. But I could help you out with that one, you know." She probably could. Sora knew almost everyone at Mount Vernon, being the #2 gossip queen, only under her other friend Mimi.

"I'd rather not."

"Fine then... Moody much?"

"Nosy much?" With that I splayed myself across the science desk until class started, with Sora sitting next to me.

School ended that day with no other hitches besides a goodbye from Sora after fourth period. I strolled up to my locker then, not really in any mood and just ready to go home and vegetate.

He was there.

I looked up from the ground and he was there, grabbing his books from his locker innocently. I decided again to try and ignore him and maybe put my things away without a word between us. That didn't seem likely, though as he looked my way and smiled that love/hate devilish grin of his.

"Yo."

"Hey."

I opened my locker and hid behind it, hoping he'd disappear in the time it took me to grab my stuff. When I clicked it shut, though he was still looking my way intently, almost like a dog looking longingly at a treat. But who was I kidding... Gay didn't come to mind at all when I saw him, so I guess just the dog part would suffice. A cute dog.

Then he spoke again. "I've talked to you twice now, and I don't know your name. I mean, even an acquaintance is an acquaintance by name, right?" Very philosophical of him. Almost like a pick up line, if i didn't know any better. He's probably one of those flirty types, who don't realize when they say leading things.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm Yamato. Call me Matt." His smile added two hundred more watts to itself at that.

"Are you part Japanese?" Observant and a good listener.

"Yeah, my dad is. And before you say anything, I know I look nothing like it."

"I wasn't going to say that. I'm part Japanese too. The name's Tai." He held out a hand for me to shake, which was surprisingly warm and rough—but kind of smooth too. Time was going faster than I expected her to, that was for sure. Just letting things happening was making things move faster than ever.

I reacted quickly, feeling all of the sudden very self-conscious after that. "I gotta go... Tai. Later." He smiled again and held up a hand in goodbye at my retreating form.

Shit. I didn't dislike him. In fact, I liked his hands? That was fucking weird. Actually, the last few days were weird and just... different. A new year, new feelings I supposed. But what was all of that? I had always dreamed of falling in love with a nice Hardcore kid who actually knew the difference between Metal and Metalcore... That kind of guy would catch my eye and we'd form a band and live like lovers should. But yeah, that was an ideal obviously. And Tai didn't fit into any part of that ideal in any way shape or form. So why the hell was I attracted to him? He had a spark about him, I couldn't deny that, but beyond that what was left to like? He looked like a conformer and nothing so far gave me reason to believe he wasn't.

Well, I didn't know him at all, so thinking like that was just unfair. But really, how the hell was I gonna get any sleep with all this shit stewing in the back of my head? I was leaving it up to time, yes, but time wasn't working fast enough, damnit! Besides actually talking to him, everything felt like it was going too slow and my mind was even making up a personality for him since I didn't have one established. That was never a good thing, taking into account how crazy my mind could be. It was sick to even let myself think! I mean, come on, I was already working against the grain and making him out to be an asshole when I didn't know the guy at all! Shit, I only just learned his his name and I was already calling him a conformer?

Idiot, Matt. Idiot.

I rushed home after that for no reason other than to call Sora. Even if she was annoying at times, she was my only friend and therefore my only source for advice. And besides having great intuition women seemed to have good advice to go along with it.

"Takenouchi residence." It was her mom.

"Uh, hey Ms. Takenouchi. Is Sora home?"

"Oh hello there Yamato! Yes, one moment please." There was a long pause and lots of crashes before a very winded Sora answered the phone.

"Sora speaking."

"What's up, Ms. Formal Phone-operator." She chuckled, as expected.

"Are you joking? Let me go get the camera, wow! Yamato Ishida is actually calling _me?_" Oh boy, I knew she'd say something about that.

"Yeah, well don't get used to it. I just wanted to... update you? I guess?"

"Update me? Uhh, odd. But go ahead then." No better buffer than that...

"You're a girl I think? So you understand to some degree how to read people. I'm not the type to ask advice--"

"You just did."

"Shut up. But really, I can't understand why someone who looks so much like a conformer can act so much... different than one. My brain has been over-thinking that one a lot recently." There was no pause before she replied.

"Stop being so dramatic and listen to yourself. You just answered your own question, dufus, if you could call it that. He may look like any other asshole, but is he? No. Not yet at least. And until he is, give the poor guy a break and a chance to prove he's cool." Why was such a simple answer so lost to me? The King of over-thinking simple things struck again! He gave me no reason to think he was an ass and it wasn't really a 'guilty until proven innocent' situation at all. All I had to do was chill out and let life go on and if he kept crossing paths with me, so what? Sora was right, there was no point in thinking about it too much.

"Oh. Well... Yeah."

"You know I'm right. Here, just get some sleep and think about naked Calvin Klein men fucking like bunnies in a cologne add... or whatever it is about men that turns you on." How articulate she could be at the wrong time amazed me. Girls like her amazed me, really.

"I'll do that... weirdo."

"Cock-sucker."

"Tit-licker!"

"Boy-raper!"

"Cunt-fuck!"

"Dick-tease!"

"Lesbo!"

"Fag!"

"I know I am, but what are you? Oh, right, a dyke."

"HA! But gay jokes only work when I say 'em, buddy. And I'm done owning you now so admit it, I am the verbal queen!"

"Yeah, whatever. Point is, you solved my problem. Thanks." I think I felt her hug me over the phone then. Strange. At least that ended the cute little name-calling war.

"No problem-o me amigo."

"Shut up, Sanchez. Just take the compliment like a man." I was already sick of calling her a lesbian. I never liked talking about her sexuality in the first place, and definitely using the words "Cunt-fuck" weren't—er—prominent with me.

"Taking it like a man? Isn't that your job?" Oh, another low-blow. Time to settle the score once and for all.

"You probably know more about being a man than I do." That one got her. I could tell by the momentary silence on the other end of the line.

"You dick!"

"I love you too."

"Yeah, well, don't expect any more favors from me for a long time, buddy! The information desk is closed!" That was another lie. Sora couldn't ignore me if she tried. Besides, I was the only one who knew her little secret and visa versa, so she sorta needed me. And visa versa.

She clicked off then without saying goodbye and I sat there at the kitchen table, still clutching the dull beeping phone, almost in a good mood. I took that opportunity, after I got my bearings, to work out the kinks on my little sleep problem and found my way up to my room to rest... Hopefully until morning.

When my eyelids started to droop and my head cleared itself, that's when my father knocked twice on my door. Man, even his knock sounded professional.

"Yamato, I am entering." Without any further warning he swung the door open and looked in at my half-dead body, strewn across my bed like a friggin' rug. His slightly disapproving look afterwards made my sleeping position feel uncomforable Yes, the way I slept made me self-conscious around my father. It's impossible to describe the amount of intolerance he had for anything less than the straight and narrow and my tired eyes and exhausted stance probably spoke novels to him about how useless I was.

Needless to say, I bolted up immediately, trying my hardest to look normal and blank.

"Hi, dad—er, sir."

"Good evening, Yamato. Are you feeling up to par? You look less than yourself." Understatement of the century. "Actually, I can't let you sleep just yet. You seemed to have forgotten to take out the trash and recycling. Please complete that task before you rest. And don't forget to brush your teeth." That was his polite way of saying "I caught your ass, so do your chores and primp up your sorry looking state before you sleep in my house or you're in deep shit." I learned to translate his language as soon as I learned to hold a broom and dust-bin in my hands. But if that was the price for living, I guess it was worth it?

I took my time pulling together the trash and recycling, trying to ignore TK sitting on the couch watching a movie absently while I was busy slaving away. Though he got his fair share of chores, my responsibilities _easily _outweighed his tenfold. But I loved TK enough that any jealousy I felt was unimportant and moot point. Plus he was sensitive to the fact that I got verbally fucked by father every day and treated me nicely because of it. He also was the only other person besides Sora to know the secret of my sexuality, only because it was so obvious to him. I think he figured it out before even I did, so telling him was simpler than saying my ABCs. But regardless of all the things he did do for me, he was still a thirteen year old boy with an older brother. In other words, the little shit could press my buttons faster than anyone else and unfortunately he decided then was a good time.

"So, dad gave you the 'promptly do the recycling' speech, huh?" I cringed as I dropped an old can while he said that.

"Yeah, I'd rather get this done and forget about it, so just... ignore me."

"Why? It's so fun to watch to you being pissed off."

"Y'know, I thought my mood was enough to tell you not to fuck with me. But here, read my lips and fuck off for a bit, ok? Sarcasm from you will just... god, nevermind. Just shut up." He laughed lightly and patted my shoulder.

"It's okay chief, chill. I'll help you if you want me to?"

"No thanks. Just leave me alone, ok?" He pulled back with a quizzical look about him.

"Wait, so you don't want help carrying all this stuff out to the curb? What's wrong with you 'Mato? You've been acting more—extreme? Lately and really only after school started. What's your deal?" I clutched an empty Gatorade bottle tightly until it caved in. I had no good answer for him, so I just took the easy way out.

"Which question do you want me to answer first? Oh wait, here's one that will answer them all. Fuck off for now, shrimp! Thanks for the offer but no, I got it." He shook his head and scratched it with an exaggerated sigh before turning to leave.

"Ok then... Just, yeah, talk to me if you feel like it. I'm not your little bro for nothing, you know. And not to mention I'm fuckin' bored." He exited the room then, leaving me to haul it all outside on my own. I really did appreciate the offer—both offers, but Sora was right, I really just needed my sleep to feel better.

Throwing the rest of the crap on the curb, I stopped for a second to admire the night. That was the only part of doing that chore I liked—the night was beautiful. Tonight especially, with the cold air and warm breeze curling around me and rustling our oak trees. Really, moments like these were what I enjoyed most in life. The moon was non-existent and only a million stars were there to turn the dark sky into a deep, purple/blue hue. I was lucky I could see them from in the city and I only had the privilege to because we lived in a sleepy, rich suburbia high on the hilly parts of the out city limits. It was calm and simple at night there, just like I liked things to be, with only a few dogs barking in the distance to break the silence. I sat outside for a few more minutes contemplating nothing before going back in to sleep like a dead-weight. I needed it.


	2. Incriminating Secrets pt 1

**A/N: **A big thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'll put the review replies at the bottom of the chapter so you can get right to reading . This chapter is slightly shorter than the first one but I found a good place to stop so I did. And it's a bit different than you might expect, but don't worry, it's all for plot purposes. Enjoy! (Special thanks goes to this chapter's beta, Tyson Foxflame. She writes amazing Taito fanfiction that you MUST go check out. Love you Ty!)

**Warnings: **I dunno... A few cuss words? shrug

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Digimon. :'(

**Struck a Nerve**

**Chapter 2: Incriminating Secrets Pt. One**

**By: CA**

While I was sleeping, I could almost feel the extra warmth of the sun hitting the side of my face. Of course, that was just my dream's fabrication. My bastard alarm clock always dragged me into consciousness well before the sun had a chance to, so maybe there was a lovely beach scene reeling through my head, I didn't know. But even as I slept I felt a strange uneasy feeling creep over me, as if I was in trouble before I even woke up.

My dream felt distant and I noticed the uneasiness moving in. As soon as I attempted to prove the feeling wrong, it crashed back with full force as I opened both my tired eyes.

The sun was up. Shit.

I looked out my window and sure enough, everything was bathed in morning sunlight. I didn't even have time to think it over, as I was already on auto-freak mode to get the hell out of bed. I turned to my alarm clock that sat smirking back at me with the "alarm" setting switched off and the digits 12:00 AM blinking monotonously. It was doing that on purpose, damnit! I cursed the blinking bastard to hell and did my best to throw on clean clothes and shoes at the same time.

TK flung open my door just as I fitted my black jeans around my waist, looking less than cheery. I stared at him, fly undone and in the most awkward position, and he stared back, just as disbelieving. We knew it. We were late. Dad was going to kill us.

TK took two steps towards me. "MATT! ALARM! What the hell?" The Ishidas were not morning people. I feebly shrugged my shoulders, resigning to the fact that we were screwed.

"You know, your's didn't go off either genius," I stated pointing to the blinking alarm clock behind me. I then added as an afterthought, "The power probably went out some time last night."

TK mocked me. "The power went out last night—I DON'T CARE! Ugh, Matt, what are we gonna do? If Dad finds out we were tardy this early on in--" I cut him off easily.

"Then we'll explain that it wasn't our fault. I'm sure the bastard can't find an excuse for a power-outage, right?" TK's tense shoudlers slumped at that.

"'suppose not," he replied normally. I smiled at him and ruffled his hair as he caught his breath, now knowing he had no reason to freak.

"You get ready. I'll call Dad and meet ya downstairs," I commanded tiredly. He nodded and left the room as quickly as he had burst in. I simply shrugged and took my time getting ready. I was already late, right? No use in rushing now.

I called Father only five minutes later to confirm what happened. He didn't take it well or not well. In fact, he sounded just as disinterested as usual with the news. But his promise to call the school and have our absences excused was enough for me, regardless of his attitude.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The clock was looming overhead as I caught the last part of first period, which luckily was a free period. The teacher was out sick and the sub didn't even care to see my pass—all of that freaking out for nothing basically. I took my usual seat in class, eyeing everyone who looked up at me from their naps and doodlings. It wouldn't have annoyed me so much, but Tai was absent today, making all the common looks I got from classmates that much more annoying. It bugged the crap out of me that he wasn't there and maybe it was just because I had a shitty morning. Any reason wasn't enough to peg why it annoyed me, but the unusual feeling lasted all day through to fourth period with Sora. She didn't help much either.

Sora caught up to me as I sulked into class and immediately noticed my "fake" brooding mood, as she put it often.

"Aww, Matty have a bad day?" she chidded over the clamourings of people getting to their seats. I half-ignored her and took a seat in the far back, scooting away from her as she followed me.

"No. Just mad for no reason," I replied darkly. She scooted closer to accommodate.

"Well that's stupid. You don't need a reason to be a dick anymore?" she asked seriously. I glanced sideways long enough to glare at her before turning my attention back to the black board and the teacher starting class.

"No. I don't."

"And a man of words. Charmed. But really Matt, you're usually at least in a neutral mood to see me, right?" she questioned, using finger-quotation marks on the word neutral. Neutral mood... What gave her reason to use that word?

"Look, whatever, Sora. I just—woke up late and everything from there was crap," I mumbled softly. She nodded and dropped the subject, turning fully around to pay attention to class.

That didn't last. A few minutes later she asked another question without even turning her head.

"It doesn't have anything to do what _him _does it?" she whispered. I hated when she jumped to conclusions. Especially when they were the right conclusions.

I scowled. "Oh my god, so he wasn't in first period today? Big deal... tomorrow's tomorrow," I spat. She scribbled down some notes before turning and smiling brightly, oblivious to my tone.

"Yeah. It is."

XXXXXXXXX

After science, I walked with Sora for the first time that year towards my locker. I don't pay attention to my expressions much so I must have been scanning around a lot, because she asked rather loudly, "Whatcha looking for?"

I shrugged and kept walking. And for no reason, instead of asking more questions, she grabbed my arm lightly and squeezed. I gathered it was some girl expression for "I'm sorry" or "good luck"? It was a nice gesture, but it didn't help. I couldn't see Tai's unruly mane of brown hair anywhere.

It was pathetic that I automatically looked for one person and all Sora had to do was exist and she waved to hundreds of them. It just wasn't fair. I hated them all, yes, but jealously knew no boundaries and I really only had him and Sora to look forward to...

He just told me his name and I was already eager to see him every day. To the point where I was in a bad mood if I didn't. Not good.

XXXXXXXXX

The walk home was quiet except for the usual bits of sarcasm and chides tossed between us. I didn't have anything important to talk about and I sure wasn't going to bring up Tai again, for fear of sounding clingy.

Sora didn't say as much as usual either. She just sort of looked at me and resigned to her own thoughts until we reached my house. When we got there, I threw a quick goodbye to her over my shoulder and walked into what I hoped was an empty house.

"Good afternoon, Yamato. How was your day?" Damn.

"Oh, hey Dad—er, sir. Fine," I replied meekly. I was beginning to slip on the "sir" thing and on my "manners", which he seemed to notice. His smile faltered slightly before it replaced itself.

"I have left your chore list on the refrigerator. Please complete those tasks and eat the left-overs from last night while I'm gone." At least he was going to be out tonight, but not without leaving his mark of course. The chore list was going to be annoying as usual, I could tell. His voice had an extra ring to it. Never a good thing.

"Where are you going?" I asked more out of courtesy than question. He picked up his briefcase and headed towards the door as he answered.

"Business as usual, Yamato. Be good to your brother." With that he turned and the door said goodbye for him with a simple click. He was gone—probably for the rest of the night. The good thing was, at least he didn't bring up the morning tardiness, like I was sure he would.

With a shrug and a drawn-out yawn I turned to the kitchen to check the chores list:

1. Dust the living room

2. Take out the trash

3. Watch over Takeru

4. Sweep, mop and vacuum wherever needs it

5. Tidy up your room

6. Clean the windows (My office also. You know the rules.)

I rolled my eyes out of habit even though the chore list wasn't that long this time. What did catch my eye though was the last chore listed. I rarely ever cleaned his office and I haven't even seen it more than a handful of times. Father liked his privacy, so he laid down very strict rules for me the very first time he let me clean in there. He told me to touch nothing, look at nothing, and focus on nothing besides my given chore. If I was caught snooping around it meant a severe punishment. And a severe punishment from him was _really _bad.

I decided, of course to start with the chore that would let me in to his office. I grabbed the Windex and some newspaper and made my way up the stairs to his office. I was curious as hell and all kinds of ideas went through my head as I approached the dark cherrywood door. His office, as I remember, is huge, so cleaning the windows was bound to take a few minutes... enough to glance around and maybe get a little peek into his profession. I had no clue what he did for a living. He told me he worked in mortage refinancing, but something told me that that was bullshit.

Next to the door was his top-of-the-line security device. It was a gelatin flat screen where whoever was trying to gain access to the room had to put their hand. Every time Father told me to clean in there, he told the computer to accept my hand-print. Obviously, this method kept TK and I out of the office at all other times. I thought it was a totally unnecessary attachment for a mortgage refinancer to have, but the guy was a little O.C.D. about everything. The few times I'd been allowed in there, he was around and watching me like a hawk.

As I thought about it, it was a little weird for him to be letting me in to the room alone and with the house to myself. But, as the Romans say: who gives a fuck? So without hesitation, I put my hand on the screen and waited until the doors unlocked only a few moments later.

I walked into the same room I had seen before. It hadn't changed much besides a few modernizations here and there. I was just surprised to be in the cold, crisp and altogether neat office again. Father must've had a major lapse of judgement if he allowed me in his private space alone—I wasn't that polite to him or that courteous enough to deserve it otherwise. But obviously in whatever panic he was in, he decided to let me in to clean. I shrugged non-commitally to my work and as I sprayed down the windows thoroughly, and I couldn't help but peek around, well aware that there was a working security camera watching my every move. It was just too tempting to not take a peek...even if I was going to get into trouble for it.

After rubbing lightly on the glass, I chanced a look around the stiffly decorated room. Mostly there were just modern art pieces and bookshelves full of... books. It seemed completely empty of any supplies he might need. I shook my head and scowled at the titles on the shelves... dictionaries... classic literature. Nothing on mortgage refinancing. Not a file or a paper in sight.

I cursed myself for possibly getting into trouble over nothing. The windows were done and the security camera was curiously aimed at me, watching my every move. I cursed again and walked quickly towards the door to get the hell out of there. Unfortunately, I was paying no attention to where I was going and I ran smack into a sculpture of Mozart. But instead of falling and crashing into a million plasture pieces it did something else. The whole portrait sculpture fell backward from my weight and stayed suspended and locked into position by a metal rod sticking into its underside. I was freaked at the moment and almost didn't hear the dull thud as the books behind me shifted. I chanced a look and turned to see what had moved, wincing in pain from slamming my knee on the sculpture. What I saw scared the crap out of me. I was definitely in deep shit now...

Straight in front of me and absurdly out of place was a small elevator with a seat for one in the middle. I had no clue where it went. I was curious though, and there seemed to be no reason not to try it, considering I'd never died in an elevator before. Out of character and comfort, I forced myself to sit in the cold metal seat for no other reason than I was bored and extremely interested. Immediately the doors closed to the compartment, making me feel even more uneasy and clastrophobic.

A voice rang out before I even registered that I was trapped.

"_Good afternoon, Mister Ishida. Password please." _Shit. I had no freaking idea where to begin guessing that. If Father could hide an elevator in my house, then how was I going to guess a personal password of his? What information did I have to go off of?

With nervous sweat starting to line my forehead, I spoke the first password that came to mind, hoping that the cheeky computer voice would accept it.

"Takeru."

"_Affirmative." _He always liked my brother more than me. Plus, my voice sounded like a younger version of his enough to trick the computer.

Once more the voice droned on in a monotone british accent.

"_Now decending to section 1. Temperature: 50 degrees faherheit. Please wear your protective gear, sir." _I was beginning to hate the voice and what it asked of me, as a compartment opened in the small vessel, containing what I could only call a chemical-retardant suit. It reminded me of what Homer Simpson wore in the Simpsons intro song, which didn't comfort me much.

Without a second thought I threw on the muggy, uncomfortable suit. What would father need with one of these for? But just as I began to panic at the thought, the small vessel shot downward at angle and speed I was _not _ready for, efficiently cutting off any thought going through my head. I was hurled down alarmingly fast, way deeper than my house could have reached on it's original base. I hated the idea that I was probably underground and it made the whole chlostrophibic experience that much more unnerving.

Just as quickly as the little ball of terror started, it stopped. The small window at the front whipped in from black to suddenly showing a bit of scenery I was, yet again, definitely _not _ready to see. I was only hoping to maybe clean the windows and find an incriminating picture or something lying on his desk. But this was just... amazing.

Reaching from the floor to the ceiling, about a 30 foot span of space, were aisles upon aisles of plain gray file cabinets. It looked like the Fort Knox of libraries, complete with large-screened computers at the beginning of each aisle showing a touch-screen menu. The aisles were lit by dim blue lights except for the white light blaring from the computer screens. I would've expected an underground—whatever this was, to be dark and dank like the Bat Cave, but the whole place look unusually clear and santized. It also struck me as weird that there was only minimal light in a place with files and things to be read.

As stunned as I was to see such a huge cavity existing underneath my house, I was even more stunned when the English-accented computer voice spoke again.

"_Section 1 of 2. Doors are now opening. Please step carefully, Mr. Ishida." _For fear of not tricking the computer again I kept my mouth shut and stepped out of the opening door. Immediately I felt off balance as I landed onto the firm ground. I was completely terrified of the ceiling caving in at any time or the elevator not letting me back up or anything else that could go wrong in a place like this. It was painfully obvious that this was the reason Father never let me near his office, although I had no clue what hell he could be documenting that could take up dozens of aisles and rows of cabinetry.

The elevator left me off inside a small, transparent entrance room to "section 1". It looked like the only way to get into the place, so I lifted my heavily padded arm and opened the first set of doors. As soon as I passed through, they closed and locked, effectively trapping me in an even smaller chamber. Then, without warning, I heard a strange suction noise and immediately all the air started leaving my lungs, collapsing them slowly. I panicked as all the available air depleted and I began bashing into the first doorway to get the hell out of there. But just as I was about to scream futiley for help, the same voice I was growing to despise rang out clear over a loudspeaker.

"_Now de-oxygenating. Please turn on your respitory device located on your right hip-buckle." _I felt deliriously around my side for whatever the "right hip-buckle" was and my hand met with a small black lever. I tugged it hard, already feeling my lungs screaming for air, and the buckle eased with a fine _click _to the other side. My lungs filled with air.

"_Could've told me that sooner, you bastard!" _I wheezed at the computer while catching my breath.

The second set of doors in front of me swished open, revealing a staler and easier to walk in environment. I guessed the smaller chamber was meant to get rid of the oxygen in the file chamber. It reminded me of an old science lesson where my teacher went off on some tangent about how important files are kept in oxygen decompressed environments so as to last longer and stay preserved.

I stepped out onto the tiled floor surrounding the towering walls of drawers. Along each set of walls lay a rolling ladder to reach the higher up drawers. The only thing left to see in the simple room were the large touch-screen computers placed against the side of each set of cabinets. Tentatively, I trudged up to one of them, feeling the weight of the suit slow me down. Strangely, it wasn't hot inside the thick suit and I figured that Father put some kind of cooling system in the room or suit to not over-heat himself. A mile or two underneath the ground is no place to be passing out, especially when you're alone and no one knows you're there.

I was regretting my decision to check out the elevator with each step that I took, but as I reached the computer something new caught my eye. On the screen in plain letters it stated:

'To access files please enter your password and select the cabinet number you wish to open.'

I read it over twice, before pressing the search bar and entering the password I had shouted to the computer beforehand. As soon as I entered it this time, an error message popped up, telling me the password was wrong and to try again. I was sweating now without a clue of what another password of his could be. My brain acted for me on a whim and I typed in the next password that came to mind.

'Y-A-M-A-T-O' _Enter. _

A green flash indicated that the password was correct, astonishing me. Maybe he doesn't hate me as much as I thought? Either that, or it was a convenient password to go along with 'Takeru'.

In any case, I was in. The menu consisted of hundreds of thousands of files located in folders, located in drawers, located in cabinets. There were file numbers from 1 to 798,454. I had no time to think about which one to press because I was already worried I had spent too much time down here. So I played the random game and clicked on one of the files... file number 3,022. I typed in the password one more time, anticipating what would happen.

As soon as I pressed enter, I heard a dull thud coming from an aisle not too far from me. Whatever drawer was holding the file had swung open. I quickly jogged from the computer around to the other side of the aisle, seeing one of the many drawers sticking out and with a very particular file pushed up higher than the rest.

I reached the drawer in record time and whipped out the file, trying to figure out what all the high-tech crap amounted to.

What I saw... amazed me.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Yeah, so I'm stopping there! There will be more to come soon since my muses have been pushing me to write this fic for some reason. Please scroll down to see your review reply and also, please leave a review.

Thanks!

Love

CA

**Neo:** blush thank you so much for the compliment! I hope people read this, but don't you think using a pitch fork is a bit much...? Aheh. Guess not --0. Thanks babe!

**Ty:** Good use of the word adore . Makes me feel special. And glad you noticed the cynical Yamato thing... kinda did that on purpose, you know? Thanks for the review!

**Beezlee:** Made you laugh? Wow, that's a great compliment! And I agree, writing the phone conversations was my favorite part too. Hope you liked this chapter!

**x1-Taken-Over:** I updated as quick as I could . This chapter wasn't exactly a "potential reaching" chapter, but it's there for plot purposes. Hope you liked it and thanks for the review!

**Keiran: **I didn't even realize you reviewed Joshie! Thank you ! And yeah... I'll get right on Cerulean Change. I'm trying to focus, but it's been hard.

**Bunnymae: **I really appreciate the constructive criticism. Actually, my spell checker went on the fritz, so that's why there may be be a few grammatical problems . Thank you so much for the review, I'm so happy you like it! And yes, sarcastic and real are the two things I go for in my writing. Glad it's working out.

**Fez Dispenser 88:** Thanks for reading this Steph! The constructive criticism makes sense and I'll work on making him less repetitive. And the sarcasm is what I was going for a lot. Love you!

**Hogo-chan:** Hey you! It has been a long time! I'm so glad everyone is picking up on the sarcasm thing, although this chapter was pretty cut and dry. Don't worry, the rest of the fic won't be like that. It's there for plot purposes and all that . Love you! And thanks for the review, it makes my day.


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